


fireside reverie

by izabellwit



Category: Dororo (2019), Dororo (Manga), Dororo - Osamu Tezuka
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Developing Friendships, Families of Choice, Gen, Speculation, set during episode 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 09:29:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17464916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izabellwit/pseuds/izabellwit
Summary: This soul has not passed him by, and Hyakkimaru cannot help but wonder. Or: Hyakkimaru’s perspective on that fireside fish dinner.





	fireside reverie

**Author's Note:**

> I found this anime like... two days ago and I'm already in love. That said-- I have no knowledge of the source material, the original or any of the spin-offs, so if anything in this drabble doesn't fit with that canon... eh.

The soul is doing something again. 

Bemused, and a little interested despite himself, Hyakkimaru stands at the sidelines and watches the white fire flicker, trying to puzzle out what each movement means. The soul is always doing something, from what Hyakkimaru has seen—a being in constant motion, always moving, always jumping about. They follow at his heels and then jump ahead only to fall back, as if staying still and settled is a concept they have never considered. 

He hasn’t known them long, all things considered. Hyakkimaru met this soul barely even a day ago, by that colorless place he thinks was a river, when he fought yet another demon. Since then, the soul has stuck by his side, lingering long enough that Hyakkimaru is starting to have doubts. He’s spent the whole day waiting for the soul to move on and away, but even now—the soul isn’t leaving. 

Instead, the soul is doing something—this soul is always doing something, from what Hyakkimaru can tell. Keeping Hyakkimaru from eating, shoving him back from the water, fussing with things on the ground… and now, apparently, taking issue with—something. Maybe the fish? 

Maybe it’s because Hyakkimaru was going to eat the fish raw. Jukai had always found that a little exasperating too—but it’s not like Hyakkimaru can taste it either way, and despite missing more than half his body, he’s never gotten ill the way Jukai claimed he would. The demons left Hyakkimaru with no limbs, but he apparently still has a good immune system— so why shouldn’t Hyakkimaru eat his fish raw? Honestly. 

He wishes he could tell that to the soul, somehow, but it’d be too much to write out and he’s not sure how to explain it, anyway. Plus, this is—interesting. The soul, in general, is very interesting. Hyakkimaru has no idea what the soul is doing—he rarely does, when half the world consists of dead things and as such shows no color at all—but it’s fun, sometimes, to try and puzzle it out. Like now, for instance: the soul, crouched on the ground, messing with something that gives off a faint green glow, likely from the trees; the soul rocking back and forth as if blowing; the green color fading and corroding in his ‘vision,’ as if it’s withering away… 

…Oh. A fire? It must be. 

The soul jumps up once the flames get going—the green of the twigs is near-invisible now—and Hyakkimaru allows himself to be maneuvered down to sit on a log, watching carefully as the white soul jumps back to the fire. And it must be a fire—he’s taken Hyakkimaru’s fish and speared them with green, probably to cook. 

Hyakkimaru rests his prosthetics on his knees and tilts his head down, trying to focus. He has his skin back now, and while that’s nice and all, he still thinks he might be missing something. Fire is hot, isn’t it? Jukai always told him so. And yet, no matter how hard Hyakkimaru tries, he still can’t feel a thing. 

He’s not surprised, not really. It figures that even in this, the world won’t give Hyakkimaru a damn thing unless he takes it, even if that ‘thing’ in question is a just a basic sense of heat and pain. It’s one of those things Jukai was surprised about, that they figured out by accident, from that time Hyakkimaru was five and touched a fire bare-handed—and apparently burned off half his hair down to his scalp. It’s all in the things Jukai doesn’t say, sometimes—  _ didn’t that hurt?  _ written out in the dust, telling Hyakkimaru of yet another piece of himself that the demons have taken. 

Pain, from what Hyakkimaru’s heard, doesn’t sound fun at all. But he’s interested in the rest of it. Pressure, a sense of pressure—he has that, at least. He wouldn’t be able to fight without it. But heat, cold, touch, warmth— even if it came with pain, he’d like to have it. It would at least help Hyakkimaru know when there’s a fire nearby. He’s always been a little worried about walking through another one—if he burns his prosthetics, there’ll be no Jukai to help him now. 

Hyakkimaru resists the urge to sigh, just closes his eyes briefly and lowers his head a little more. In a way, not much has changed. He’s lost the mask Jukai gave him, but the only difference between the false skin and the real is that the real skin is a lot more flexible and comfortable than the mask ever was. 

White fire flares in his vision, abrupt and rapid, jolting Hyakkimaru from his musings. He stiffens momentarily before reason reasserts itself, and then he turns his focus away from the fire and back to the stranger beside him.

The soul is doing something  _ again _ , Hyakkimaru realizes, a bit belatedly. He can’t see the fish anymore—they’ve gone and cooked through, their souls extinguished—but the human soul is by the side of the fire, reaching out, and… wait, what are they doing? Is that an arm, and if it is— 

Instinct rings loud through his head. The soul holding something, holding it  _ out, _ and that something is very, very close to Hyakkimaru’s new face, wait wait wait—

Hyakkimaru leans back and away, trying to focus, too surprised to understand. Seriously, what the heck is the soul doing  _ now _ ? 

Thankfully the soul takes the… whatever it is, he can’t see it at all, what a pain—away from Hyakkimaru’s face, and grabs his right prosthetic instead. They close his fingers around something, long and thin, too slim to be a sword or weapon. And… if he concentrates, he thinks he can see something faintly green—a twig? Which means…

Hyakkimaru raises his other prosthetic and lets his fingers fall around the twig. Yep: there’s something on it. Wait, is this the fish?

He brings it to his lips. The scales are thinner, crunchier than usual in his teeth— the flesh falls apart more quickly. He still can’t taste it, but—this is fish. The way Jukai makes it, even. Flaky and juicy and easier to swallow. 

…Huh. So the soul  _ was _ cooking the fish— point to Hyakkimaru, then. He takes another bite, and this time when the soul comes too close, he waits to see what they do. Another green-tinged twig—another fish, and even better, this time they don’t stick the thing in his face.

The third fish, the soul keeps for themself—but well, Hyakkimaru doesn’t really mind. He’s kind of been worrying about that, actually. He knows to eat less from hunger (no sense of pain means no sense of hunger, which apparently means no survival instinct at all, thank you for nothing, demons), but he knows when he  _ should _ eat, at least, from Jukai’s instructions. It has occurred to him that this new soul would need to eat too—but he hasn’t really started worrying about it until now. Hyakkimaru has spent the day thinking the soul would move on at any moment, and at the very least could be trusted to find their own food … and yet, here they are, numerous hours later and still by his side.

This soul has not passed him by, and Hyakkimaru cannot help but wonder.

They’re a clever soul—small, though. Smaller than him. A child, he thinks, and isn’t that interesting? Hyakkimaru’s pretty sure they saw his skin grow back, and it probably didn’t look pretty—certainly didn’t  _ feel  _ pretty, ugh—and yet. Here they are, doing silly things like cooking his fish and placing his prosthetic at their cheek in a vain attempt to tell him their name. 

He’s not as good at this as he is at reading with his fingers—especially not through the prosthetic—but it’s a nice attempt. Sweet, even. Hyakkimaru watches the soul fall back sleep, and turns his head to observe that white-fire soul a little closer. They’ve cooked his fish and shared his food, made a fire and tried to tell him their name. They’ve…  _ stayed _ . Longer than most do. Longer than anyone has, besides Jukai. 

Maybe it’s a temporary thing. Maybe they’re just sticking by him till the end of this road, to the next village—maybe they’re just heading in the same direction. Hyakkimaru doesn’t know. It could be this is only a misunderstanding, and in a few hours time the soul will walk away like every other, and Hyakkimaru can wander again, alone once more. Maybe this soul too will have to stay behind. 

…Maybe not. 

Hyakkimaru turns his face back towards the fire, where the green has all but vanished, and stares out into the featureless black, trying to remember the way the soul’s face had stretched and compacted, jaw working as they spoke. Writing is easier, but Jukai has taught Hyakkimaru this, too. Just enough to guess.

_ Do-ro-ro. _

If he’s right—and Hyakkimaru thinks he’s right—then that is the soul. The soul’s name. Their  _ name _ . Jukai, and Dororo—two souls in a thousand that he can finally say he knows.

And maybe, if this Dororo stays a little longer—if they come to the next settlement, and the soul doesn’t leave… if they follow at Hyakkimaru’s heels from this next village as well, if they don’t run from the monsters—if they stay—if they _ stay— _

Maybe then, if that time comes… Hyakkimaru will tell them his name, too.

He’s almost looking forward to it. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any questions, [my tumblr](http://izaswritings.tumblr.com) is always open!!
> 
> Any thoughts?


End file.
